Bel Powley

“I'm not not a fan of graphic novels, but it's not like one of my pastimes, reading graphic novels.”

“I loved history and Eastern European politics.”

“So many times, you get sent scripts where it's, like, the token chick, where the woman is just there to serve the man in the film.”

“I'm one of those girls that, day-to-day, I'm in trainers or Converse. I have about 50 pairs of trainers, so when I get the chance to dress up, I will definitely be in heels. 100 percent. I might take some battered Converse in my bag to wear at the after-party when my feet are tired.”

“I think people get confused: people think 'strong female characters' mean you need to play an action figure.”

“I was really quite geeky at school. At one point, I wanted to be prime minister or a mathematician.”

“I want to play a range, from victims to strong people, just as long as it's a well-rounded character. And it's not a woman who's just there for the purpose of the man.”

“You have to have really thick skin. Art is obviously there to be criticized and there to be taken in different ways. Not everyone is going to like what you do.”

“Most of my really strong friendships are with people I've known all my life.”

“I feel confident that I'm presenting myself in a feminist way that is good for young women.”

“The movies I used to watch, I remember always being so angry because I felt like I, as a teenage girl, was never truly represented in a film. There were always bits of me that were represented - I'd watch 'Juno' and be like, 'Oh, well part of me is like that, but it's still not the whole thing.'”

“'Diary of a Teenage Girl' was my first American movie. It was my first movie in an American accent. It's based on a graphic novel, which was written in 2002 by someone called Phoebe Gloeckner. It was turned into a play by Marielle Heller, who then wrote it as a screenplay for Sundance Labs.”

“Let's just say musicals aren't really my thing!”

“I actually fall asleep really easily. I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat, though, I have to make sure that all the doors are closed, the front door is locked three times, and then make sure everything is covered and look under the bed.”

“I was quite academic, quite geeky when I was a kid. I was more interested in going to school than I was in becoming a film star or something.”

“I started doing theatre, and that's when I really fell in love with the profession; I learned a lot. It felt a bit weird to go from living in New York on Broadway to university, so I kept putting it off. Then, eventually, I had to give up the place.”

“I'm so open to different things. The only thing I'd say is I've set the bar pretty high in terms of good female roles with 'Diary,' and I want to continue in that vein.”

“It sounds so negative of me to say, but I don't feel like there were many coming-of-age films when I was growing up. I think that when I was a teenager, I felt really misrepresented in the teenage roles that I was watching onscreen. Especially in women.”

“We try to push such crazy ideals onto young women: the Hollywood version of what they should look like, what they should do, and the kind of Prince Charming they should be looking for. We should just be proud of who we are, because we can't be anybody else. So what's the point of trying?”

“I think that Hollywood misconstrues actresses saying, 'Oh I wanna play a strong female character,' like we all want to play, like, superheroes or something.”